Records of the Office of the Governor of Kansas : George Tobey Anthony administration (1877-1879)

Dates

1877-1879

Quantity

2 ft. (5 boxes)

Abstract

Seventh governor of the State of Kansas, 1877 - 1879; of Leavenworth.

Correspondence and other items received during the administration of George Tobey Anthony, governor of the State of Kansas from 8 January 1877 to 13 January 1879, grouped into general correspondence received, records of communications & response letters from State offices & officials, and subject files. Major subjects include the operation of State offices, departments & institutions; applications, endorsements & remonstrances for positions; claims for damages caused by Civil War & Indian conflicts; county affairs; crimes & criminals; fairs; justices of the peace; and land. Additional records of Governor Anthony are in separate series common to several governors including an Executive record (Official record), 1861-1879; Pardon and parole files from the Women’s Industrial Farm, 1863-1919; Pardons, 1865-1883; Letter press books, 1865-1904; a Letter register, 1871-1895; Death sentence warrants, 1872-1908; Requisitions on governor from governors of other states for persons accused of crimes, 1873-1960; County organization censuses, ca. 1873-ca. 1886; Applications for extradition requisitions: series I & II, 1874-1953; Prisoners in Kansas State Penitentiary, ca. 1875-ca. 1897; Citizenship pardons, 1876-1960; Record of pardons, 1877-1888; Executive messages and proclamations, 1877-1914; Extraditions, 1877-1960; Pardon orders & commutation of sentence orders, 1878-1882; and Citizenship pardon orders, 1878-1884.

Identification

Language

Text is in English.

Notes

This finding aid describes materials held by the Kansas State Historical Society. Materials may be used in the Library in the society’s Center for Historical Research during regular research hours. Support for telephone, mail, and online reference and research is limited.

In a continuing effort to improve the completeness and accuracy of finding aids, revisions are made as more or new information becomes available. Consequently finding aids in paper format and on the society’s web site may differ slightly.

History and Biography

History of the Office of the Governor

The Wyandotte Constitution of 1859 established the office of the governor of the State of Kansas. Some of the more important duties, functions, and responsibilities of the governor are to see that the laws are faithfully executed, to require written explanations from other executive officers - at that time the lieutenant governor, secretary of State, auditor, treasurer, attorney general, and superintendent of public instruction - upon any subject relating to their respective duties, convene the Legislature by proclamation on extraordinary occasions, communicate in writing such information as he may possess in reference to the condition of the State at the commencement of every legislative session, recommend such measures as he may deem expedient, and commission officers of the State.

No formal qualifications for the governor have been legislated, aside from the provision that no member of Congress or officer of the State or United States can serve. The governor is elected by a plurality, not a necessarily a majority, of votes cast. The governor takes office the second Monday in January following election. He was authorized to hire a private secretary, pardon attorney, and other staff as appropriations permitted.

At the beginning of George Anthony’s term, the governor had the power to appoint Militia officers; members of part - time boards of directors, trustees, or regents of the State Penitentiary (now Lansing Correctional Facility), schools of higher education, and charitable institutions; a Board of Visitors for the State Agricultural College (now Kansas State University); the Bureau of Immigration; the Commission for Care of Destitute Orphans and Children of State Soldiers; the State librarian; the superintendent of insurance; and a number of minor commissions. He was also an ex officio member of the State Board of Canvassers, boards of directors of the Agricultural College and Normal School, the Bureau of Immigration, the Board of Treasury Examiners, the State Board of Commissioners of the Sinking Fund, and other committees.

During Anthony’s administration, the offices of State agent and commissioner of fisheries were created, and both were to be filled by gubernatorial appointment.

Biography of George Tobey Anthony

George T. Anthony was born on a farm 9 June 1824, at Mayfield, New York. George was the son of Benjamin Anthony, a farmer, and Anna Odell Anthony, the youngest of four siblings. He was primarily educated during the winter months at the local county school. At the age of 12 he began an apprenticeship in the tin and coppersmith trade. He married Rosa A. Lyon in 1852 and had one son. George’s parents were active members of the Society of Friends (Quakers) and were staunch advocates of freedom and abolition during the Jacksonian era. When his father died in 1829, the Anthony family was left well enough financially to start anew. At the age of nine, George and his family moved to Greenfield, New York, where he attended school during the winter months and worked for local farmers during the summer. At sixteen he began work at his uncle’s shop at Union Springs, New York, as an apprentice tinner and coppersmith; he often worked up to fourteen hours a day. Anthony, upon completing his apprenticeship, opened his own tin shop in Medina, New York, and later had a commission business in New York City which lasted until the start of the Civil War.

In 1862, Governor Edwin Morgan of New York summoned Anthony as an induction committee member to raise and organize troops in the 28th District composed of Orleans, Niagara, and Genesee Counties. His brilliant communicative and leadership skills enabled him organize the 17th Independent Battery of Light Artillery in less than four days. Anthony was commissioned captain of the organization when it was called into service on August 26, 1862, and later became breveted major. While in command of the Battery, he served between Washington, D.C., and Richmond and later was attached to the XVIII Corps when fighting in the front trenches during the Battle of Petersburg Crater, Virginia, 1864. At the end of the War, Captain Anthony played a minor role in the XXIV Corps in the Appomattox Campaign that ended in the surrender of General Robert E. Lee. During the War years Anthony often philosophized on the principles and execution of war battle plans that argued for harsh aggression in putting down the rebellion. He regarded Generals George Brinton McClellan and Benjamin F. Butler weak and unassertive in execution but thought General Ulysses S. Grant to be a grand military tactician of the age, a soldier of courage and skill that ensured an immanent end to the War. Anthony wrote a series of war letters to his brother Benjamin, who was home tending the family business and doing his best to avoid the draft. Anthony favored a heavy-handed and stiff retributive policy over clemency during the postwar Reconstruction phase. His postwar letters focus on the sensitivities of Kansas political affairs of the day, and briefly mention his sister Cynthia’s involvement in philanthropic work in the Reconstruction South. Captain George Anthony left the Army on 12 June 1865 at Richmond, Virginia, and in November that same year moved to Leavenworth, Kansas, for permanent residence.

Shortly after his arrival in Leavenworth he became editor of the Leavenworth Evening Bulletin and the Leavenworth Daily Commercial. He bought and published the Kansas Farmer for six years. He used the medium of the Kansas Farmer highlight and promote the culture of diversified farming in Kansas.

Anthony’s community responsibilities were substantial, and in 1867 he was named a member of the Board of Commissioners for the Care Destitute Orphans and Children of Soldiers of the State. In December 1867, he was appointed an assistant assessor within the United States Bureau of Internal Revenue and commissioned a collector of internal revenue on July 11, 1868. He served as president of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture and president of the Board of Centennial Managers in 1876 for a State exhibit at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. Anthony motivated the Board of Centennial Mangers to create an image of Kansas as a land of prosperity and bountiful crops, a homestead of endless opportunity rather than a bleeding, starving, drought-stricken, and grasshopper-infested State. The Board convinced the State Legislature to expend nearly four per cent of the annual State budget to erect a Kansas exhibit building in Philadelphia to advertise, in elaborate fashion, the abundance of Kansas’ agriculture.

That same year he was nominated by the Republican State Convention for the office of governor. The 1876 campaign was politically charged and very contentious for Anthony as many of his rivals charged him with cowardice while serving in the Army of the Potomac. The state Republican Central Committee investigated the vicious charge but found no evidence to support it and refused to drop him from the ticket. The decision to keep Anthony was ultimately ratified by the people in the election of November 1876; George Anthony was elected governor by a plurality of nearly 23,000 votes. However, the name Anthony alone greatly boosted his credentials and popularity because of his famous cousin, suffragette Susan B. Anthony, the sister of Leavenworth publisher D. R. Anthony.

Governor Anthony was known for his extraordinary public speaking and debating skills; he was the first Kansas governor to address the State Legislature orally. Not long after the patent on the telephone was issued to Alexander Graham Bell in 1876, the first telephones were installed in Kansas. The newly elected governor began using it for expedient communications across the State. But George Anthony’s administration wasn’t without its thorns. The great “Grasshopper panic” of 1873 still plagued the economy. Anthony therefore prioritized the administration’s budget to effect programs that required little or no State funding, established a State reformatory for younger criminals and a state commissioner of fisheries, and advocated a stronger temperance movement in government. The greatest crisis for Anthony was the railroad strike of 1877. He dispatched the State militia to Emporia to quell the uprisings and protect private property. However, when a soldier accidentally killed a Congregational minister during the crisis, Anthony promptly recalled the militia and assumed full responsibility and advocated for immediate calm. This debacle gave much ammunition to his opponents in the governor’s re-election in 1879. Anthony did have a nice advantage in the 1878 Republican State Convention, but his votes only peaked at 106 after seventeen ballots. The governor’s chief competition was John Pierce St. John and John A. Martin, each of whom had substantial support in his own right. In the end, Anthony broke the impasse by giving his votes to St. John thus giving him the nomination.

After Anthony’s governorship, he managed a Pottawatomie County farm and invested in railroads. He was made general superintendent of the Mexican Central Railroad from 1881 to 1883. In 1884 he was elected to represent Leavenworth County in the State Legislature, and he was an active member of the State Railroad Commission, now the Kansas Corporation Commission, from 1889 to 1893. He was the Republican nominee for Congressman - at - large in 1892, but was defeated by William A. Harris. Anthony was a delegate to the Trans-Mississippi Congress at New Orleans in 1892, and was appointed superintendent of insurance by Governor E. N. Morrill in 1895; he held this office until his death in 1896. The family home remained in Ottawa where he served for many years the editor of the weekly and daily Republican. Governor Anthony was a superb orator. He was logical but forcible and always impressed his listeners by his sound earnestness. He was often criticized, but his honor and integrity remained above reproach in the eyes of many of his peers and constituents. It’s been said that George T. Anthony’s greatest feats were editing the Kansas Farmer and his broad vision as president of the Board of Centennial Managers. The pioneer farmers of Kansas prior to the late 1870s were considered unskilled in managing farm affairs. At the time, corn, edible and feed, was the only crop produced. Kansas Farmer taught diversified farming; economy in agricultural production, especially in wheat grain; improvements in livestock management; and higher regard for home and social life. The Centennial exhibit at Philadelphia in 1876 made a grand advertisement greatly promoting Kansas’ vast agricultural potential, all thanks to George T. Anthony’s futuristic vision.

A severe diabetic, he died on 5 August 1896 of pneumonia and was buried in the Topeka Cemetery.

Scope and Contents of the Records

Governor George Tobey Anthony’s records consist of one series of Correspondence Received, 1877 - 1879(no. 03416), consisting of three subseries in 84 folders.

Documents that may have been addressed to Governor Anthony that were dated or pertaining to the time period after his term expired in 1879 may be filed with the records of his successor, John Pierce St. John.

The general correspondence file, 1877 - 1878,subseries 1 - box 1, folders 1 - 3 - is arranged in alphabetical order by sender; it contains varied official correspondence, railroad expansion documents, letters of litigation, and bills of lading on a variety of subjects.

The correspondence with State departments, 1877 - 1878, subseries, no. 2, is arranged alphabetically by State agency. The adjutant general file (box 1, folder 4), 1877, consists of letters pertaining to the Adjutant General’s Office from Peter S. Nobles. The Agricultural College file (box 1, folder 5), 1877-1878, contains letters of resignations and appointments, financial affairs and observed mismanagement practices of the Agricultural institution and recommendations for improvements. The State Board of Agriculture file (box 1, folder 6), 1878, has fiscal ledgers ending on 30 June 1878. The letters in the attorney general file (box 1, folder 7), 1877-1878, pertain to office appointments and matters of State litigation. The State auditor file (box 1, folder 8), 1878, includes letters of audits that identify potential indiscretions of sales and purchases. The Charitable Institutions Board of Trustees file (box 1, folder 9), 1877-1879, contains letters and documents that pertain to administrative procedures, funds accountability, checks of funds raised and held in bond securities, and meeting agendas. The Deaf and Dumb Institution file (box 1, folder 10), 1878, consists of letters of personnel changes and new institutional requirements and a request from the superintendent to relinquish his position and be placed on the Board of Trustees because of illness. The commissioner of fisheries file (box 1, folder 11), 1877-1878, includes letters of commissioner appointments, annual reports, and a request for use of military storage facilities for livestock keeping. The superintendent of State insurance file (box 1, folder 12), 1877, contains letters and affidavits that concern regulations, and policy claims and company assets liable for auction. The folder for the State agent for agricultural lands (box 1, folder 13), 1877, has letters that pertain to college land acquisitions. The State agent for railroad lands file (box 1, folder 14), 1877, includes correspondence pertaining to state deeded lands for rail use. The commissioners of school lands file (box 1, folder 15), 1878, contains letters that concern land acquisitions for schools and meeting agendas. The Legislature file (box 1, folder 16), 1877 - 1878, consists of letters affirming the resignations of and appointments to college boards of regents. The Office of the Lieutenant Governor File (box 1, folder 17), 1877, consists of the resignation of M. J. Salter from the office of lieutenant governor. The normal schools files (box 1, folders 18 - 19), 1877, for institutions at Concordia and Emporia have notes of resignation, a letter requesting the governor to veto a pending legislative bill calling for reorganization, and correspondence pertaining to school administration. The Kansas State Penitentiary file (box 1, folder 20), 1877-1878, includes letters that pertain to expenditures of public funds, possible consolidation of correctional and penitentiary facilities, governor pardons, and commutations and inmate discharges. The files for the secretary of State (box 1, folder 21), 1877-1878, includes correspondence about lawful storage of State documents of the Office of the Secretary of State, letters from Pacific House that bring to light possible inappropriate land sale transactions by the State agent, and the sale of bonds. The State treasurer file (box 1, folder 22), 1878, contains a letter pertaining to payment of suspended war claims, a list of bonds held by the Treasurer’s Office for the State Agricultural College, and a letter to the governor refuting the loss of $60,000 belonging to the Kansas State School Fund. The University of Kansas file (box 1, folder 23), 1877-1878, consists of appointment letters of University regents, a letter from the chancellor on the site and detail of the campus observatory, notes of business matters concerning the Board of Regents, and letters accepting and declining the position of University examination commissioner. Correspondence relating to State positions may also be found in the subject files, subseries 3, below.

County files, 1877 - 1878 (box 3, folders 2 - 14), include a county clerk’s log report; letters and petitions of application, recommendation, and declination for county positions; letters of resignation; Board of County Commissioners recommendations to the governor; a letter package concerning the status of the Republican River; requests to fill various county jobs; notes of abstracts that concern county public offices; letters advising the governor of pending county vacancies; a letter recounting the murder of a Mr. Landis and the burning of his home; correspondence concerning the administrative organization of counties and memorials for the county organization; letters that pertain to county seats; and correspondence regarding the lawful election of S. T. Wood as a probate judge.

The Crime and Criminals file, 1877 - 1878 (box 3, folders 15 - 20), consists of letters about the possible whereabouts of the Bender family and asking for their return to Kansas, requisitions of Kansans from other States, the capture and return of S. Lappin and C. Scrafford, official letters and documents stating the disposition of prisoners at Leavenworth military prison, and documents about requisitions and rewards for wanted criminals.

The International Fairs file, 1877 - 1878 (box 4, folders 1 - 4), includes an official State delegate invitation and program for the International Prison Congress, Stockholm Sweden; correspondence that concerns the Paris Exposition, 1878; the National Immigration Bureau fair in Philadelphia; and the Philadelphia Centennial of 1876. Additional subject files include letters, petitions, science documents, and depositions from clergy, the U.S. Department of the Interior, and an academic entomologist on the status and methods of destroying the grasshopper, 1877 (box 4, folder 5); letters and petitions that concern pending immigration of persons and whole colonies to Kansas and request for advice on where, and how, to purchase lands for homesteads, 1877 - 1878 (box 4, folder 6); and a letter of special invitation, program outline and logistical arrangements, 1878 - 1879, for Governor Anthony to attend the State of Missouri’s inaugural ceremony on January 13, 1879 (box 4, folder 7). An “Indians” file, 1878 (box 4, folder 8), includes letters stating facts of recent attacks by Indians on the Kansas and Nebraska plains directed at livestock and local citizens; the need for an armed militia to quell the violence; and a purchase order request for ammunition, guns and subsistence to support the militia. Other files include letters of invitation to the governor for State and monumental ceremonies, 1877 (box 4, folder 9), including one of particular note: the John Brown monument ceremony at the battle site of Osawatomie and letters of appointment, recommendations and resignations for county justice of the peace, 1877 - 1878 (box 4, folders 10 - 11).

Land files, 1877 - 1878 (box 5, folders 1 - 6), contain patent documents and a bond certificate for agricultural land purchases; letters of instruction that pertain to school indemnity lands; a letter of guidance from the Department of the Interior outlining state or territorial lands that might qualify for state school usage and identifying land parcel locations for state use; letters from state insurance, real estate, and other agents on the purchase and sale of normal school lands; letters that concern the public sale of lands in Kansas by the U.S. government on which the State received five percent of the proceeds; letters relating to Department of the Interior of land grants to the State of Kansas in accordance with the federal act of March 1863; 14,000 acres for the benefit of Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway Company; records of railway land audits; land location points, parcel size and lots; and official documents relative to reference and status of state lands.

Additional subject files include letters that pertain to arming militia units, the raising of new companies and ammunition orders with requisitions to activate, arm militia units and other military matters, 1877 - 1878 (box 5, folder 7), and letters and petitions of request and recommendation for the office of notary public as well as letters of declination, 1877 - 1878 (box 5, folder 8). A Railroads file, 1877 - 1878 (box 5, folder 9) consists of letters and administrative matters on the expansion of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Rail lines; railway freight restrictions; and passenger travel services. A letter and petition from settlers of Hodgeman County containing a request for disaster relief and provisions comprises the Relief file, 1877 (box 5, folder 10), and the Taxation file, 1877 (box 5, folder 11) has official letters concerning tax, property and land ownership, and a history of taxes collected in the State of Kansas.

Records of other offices of Kansas government - particularly the secretary of State, record group 622, and attorney general, record group 82 - will give additional information about State activities during this period. Papers of other prominent political figures of the time, most of which are held by the Kansas State Historical Society, may also offer insights about Kansas politics and government during the Osborn administration.

Document Types

Government correspondence- Kansas.
Public records-Kansas.

Occupations

Governors-Kansas-Archives.

Restrictions on Access

None

Restrictions on Use

Notice: This material may be protected by copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code). Most documents created by governmental entities, including the State of Kansas, are considered in the public domain, although copyright to documents found in public records that were written by individuals or organizations and sent to government agencies may be owned by the writers or their heirs.

Acquisition Information

Processing Information

Accruals

No additional records are expected.

Detailed Description of the Records

Series 03416. CORRESPONDENCE RECEIVED, 1877- 1879. 2 ft. (5 boxes).

Primarily letters received by Governor Anthony, however there are also proclamations and a few petitions, reports, copies of letters sent, and other types of documents. Some proclamations may have also been interfiled with other items received relating to the subjects of the proclamations. Copies of letters sent are described below in the Anthony portion of the series Letter Press Books, 1865- 1904(no. 03397).

Railroad expansion documents, letters of litigation, bills of lading, and other documents relating to Anthony’s tenure. Letters may have been filed here because there was not an appropriate place for them in the State Departments (no. 2) or Subject Files (no. 3) subseries, described below.

Letters from or relating to State offices. Some of the letters relate to personnel, vacancies, resignations, and appointments, but most pertain to the operation of individual State agencies. The letters request the Governor to take specific actions, ask his approval, send him information, ask him questions, tell of events, provide legal opinions, forward other letters and petitions, confirm or acknowledge gubernatorial actions, and request the Governor’s presence. Topics include observed mismanagement practices of the Agricultural College & recommendations for improvements, fiscal ledgers ending on 30 June 1878, letters of audits that identify potential indiscretions of sales and purchases; letters & an affidavit on State insurance irregularities, policy claims, & company assets liable for auction; State supplies; boards of directors; inspections; State offices; judgeships; audits; the State treasury; the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia; federal taxation; State payments; prisoners; bonds; and fraud.

Bound copy of minutes, transcribed from or used in conjunction with the Executive Record (Secretary’s Minutes) (series 03458). Begins Feb. 8, 1861, and ends Dec. 15, 1879. These records contain information on government, civilian, and military appointments and commissions; extradition requests (requisitions); executed warrants; criminal pardons and sentence commutations; legislative bills and proclamations; land sites and offices; receipt of documents; and organization of new counties. This record is organized chronologically by year but organization of the above categories within the year changes frequently. As a result, it becomes more organized as the years pass. In the later years it was probably compiled at the end of the year from the Executive Record (Secretary’s Minutes) (series 03458), rather than used throughout the year as the beginning organization suggests.

Contains letters requesting opinions on parole, Parole Board verdict or certificate, and a prisoner history. Interfiled with Pardon and Parole Files for the Kansas State Industrial Reformatory, 1927-1945 (series 03659) and Parole Certificates Issued by the Coffeyville City Court, 1932-1936 (series 03661), as part of Subseries I, 63 ft. (151 boxes), 1863-1919, arranged alphabetically. Women are only contained in Subseries I; after 1919 women’s files are arranged separately as series 06304, Pardon and Parole of Female Inmates.

Exact copies of texts of letters sent by Governors S. J. Crawford and James Madison Harvey through Willis Joshua Bailey; there are no letters for Nehemiah Green. Most of the letters sent respond to concerns expressed to the governor. Subjects are generally similar to those in letters received by governors, including State institutions, departments, & programs; appointments; events; counties; investigations; the cattle trade; land; claims; the military; State funds; immigration; Native American issues; laws & legislation; pardons; and other topics mirroring letters received by governors. Recipients included citizens of Kansas & other States, other elected officials, heads of State institutions & departments, the adjutant general, members of the Kansas congressional delegation, other governors, members of the Legislature, railroad officials, newspaper editors, military officers, local officials, and the president & vice president.

Handwritten and typescript warrants that were sent to the Governor’s Office after the convicted person’s sentencing for the governor to approve when the date and time of execution had been set. Also included are related documents that were written by the sentencing judge, county sheriff or attorney, clerk of the District court, or jury foreman.

Arranged generally chronologically.

Anthony administration: 1878 June - Nov.

Series 03814. REQUISITIONS ON GOVERNOR FROM GOVERNORS OF OTHER STATES FOR PERSONS ACCUSED OF CRIMES, 1873 - 1960. [2] v. + 1 bundle. 025-12-04-01

The bundle covers years 1886-1898 and does not have any type of arrangement. This bundle contains requisitions and supporting documents that were sent to the Governor's office from other States. Volumes cover the year 1873-1932 and have an alphabetical indexes in the front. Entries are arranged chronologically and list the case number, the date of request, fugitive name, the requesting State, name of agent, crime charged, and county suspect is believed to located in.

Census rolls for enumerations conducted 1873 - 1886. Entries contain number of householders, ages, and number of acres under cultivation. Some also contain gender, number of voters, number of schoolchildren and location.

Contains information furnished to the governor about each prisoner in the Kansas State Penitentiary (Lansing) (KSP) such as name, county, date of sentences, crime, term of sentence and remarks. Other records of prisoners for this period may be found in the records of the KSP, record group 525, and on an alphabetical, card Index to the Inmate Records at the Kansas State Penitentiary, 1861 - 1952, on Kansas State Historical Society microfilm rolls AR 7458 - AR 7469.

Arranged alphabetically by the first letter of the prisoner’s surname, thereunder roughly chronologically by date of entry.

Handwritten copies of messages and proclamations that were probably used as rough drafts for the printed and signed copies made public. They do not contain exact dates for each, but the volumes do have date spans noted. They also contain an alphabetical index.

Applications to other States to extradite criminals for prosecution in Kansas. They show the State applied to, name, crime, and date issued; most also contain court papers or similar documents explaining the case. The application itself was an envelope into which all the related documents were placed. Collection is missing the years 1886-1892; years 1937-1953 have not been refoldered and remain in their original application envelopes. Subseries I: #65-A-1 to 594-A-62 (1874-1885); Subseries II: #1871-B-6 to 6300 (1893-1953).

Copies of declarations of pardon, which contain information about the crime committed, date of pardon, and the governor’s signature on a preprinted declaration form. The first subseries covers 1879 - 1933 and the second subseries covers 1933 - 1960. Also contained in this collection are citizenship pardon stubs, which cover 1876 - 1883. The stubs are arranged chronologically in three smaller volumes and do not contain an index or signatures.